


and power was given unto them

by headwonk



Category: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016), Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs
Genre: Abuse, Angst, F/M, Gen, Heavy Angst, Hostage Situations, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:27:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24996091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/headwonk/pseuds/headwonk
Summary: After the events at Blackpool, an unexpected visitor shows up at the peculiars’ new loop. Suddenly, the children learn things about their Ymbryne that they never knew before and they have to figure out a way to save her before it’s too late.
Relationships: Alma LeFay Peregrine & Other Peculiars at Miss Peregrine's Home
Comments: 10
Kudos: 24





	1. Visitor

**Author's Note:**

> VERY HEAVY- read the warnings and tags before proceeding to read this fic because I don’t want to upset or trigger anyone!
> 
> Thank you. I’d say enjoy, but this is going to be very sad and angsty so you probably won’t
> 
> Uh, proceed? Thanks

After Blackpool, the peculiars and Miss Peregrine had to find a new loop as soon as possible before they all aged forward and died. It was a long-winded process and there was a lot of decision making involved in picking out the right date and location for their new home, but by the end of it they came upon a house just as lovely and homely as their previous one in Wales.

It was a beautiful place, big enough for all eleven children and their Ymbryne to live in contentedly. Bronwyn and Claire shared a room, the Twins had their room, Hugh, Millard, and Horace shared one, and the other boys had their own rooms. Olive and Emma also had their own rooms, just like before. At the end of the hallway on the second floor, next door to Claire and Bronwyn’s room was Miss Peregrine’s own room. 

On the first floor, there was a kitchen, a living room where they watched movies just like in their previous home, and a playroom so they kids no longer had to play in the living room. There was also a basement so Enoch no longer had to keep all of his animal hearts and other things in his bedroom.

The garden was spacious, big enough for all of the children to play in happily, though it wasn’t as big as their previous one and there was no longer a pond at the bottom which gave Miss Peregrine peace of mind because she no longer worried about her wards falling in though she knew they were capable of playing safely around water.

To say they were happy with their new home was an understatement. Though they all missed their old home after spending so long there, they were just as excited to get settled into their new one in the nineteen-fifties, England.

And they did settle. That was, until something unexpected happened.

* * *

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

Horace pulled his monocle away from his face and Miss Peregrine turned the lights in the living room back on. The children all looked away from the now blank wall and shared confused looks. 

“Who could that be at this time?” Emma asked Miss Peregrine.   
  
“I’m not sure. Wait here while I go and check. Do you remember the drill?” Miss Peregrine gave her wards a stern look. 

“If you don’t return in ten minutes, hide, Enoch recounted sourly. His face said that he would most certainly not hide if something happened.

”Correct, Enoch,” Miss Peregrine nodded and placed her pipe down on the side, “now, wait here, children. I shall return shortly.”

Satisfied the children knew to stay in the living room, Miss Peregrine left the living room and shut the door behind her. After what had happened with Byron, she was still sceptical about answering the door to her own home. 

Even though all the Wights were gone, there were still people out there with bad intentions towards peculiars such as herself and her wards, and she would do whatever it took to protect her children even if it cost her own life.   
  
When she reached the door, she hesitated in opening it. A strange feeling began to brew in the pit of her stomach that made her hand hover just above the brass doorknob. 

Her long nails brushed the metal and slowly, ignoring the feeling in her stomach with the reassurance that all Wights were now gone and no one in her loop had any ill intentions towards herself or her children, she clasped her pale hand around it and twisted it. 

Immediately, she wished she hadn’t opened the door. The sight that met her on her doorstep made her heart skip a beat and her entire body freeze as if she’s become a statue. She felt all of the blood in her body disappear and her limbs stiffen.   
  
“Sister. What a pleasure,” a silky smooth voice greeted her over the sound of pattering rain on her doorstep. 

She couldn’t help but note her visitor’s shaggy black hair was stuck to his forehead from the rain.

With a rush, all the feeling came slamming back into her body and she grabbed the door again to shut it in the face of the man on the doorstep. It seemed he’d expected this move, however, as he prevented her from shutting the door by wedging his foot in the gap between it and the doorway.

”Now, now, Alma, let’s not be hasty,” that same voice met her ears just as she stumbled back from the force of the man pushing the door wide open. 

Before she could stop him, he slipped inside the house and shut the door behind himself. The silence from the absence of the rain was almost deafening as she and the man stared at each other.

“Jack... What are you doing here? How did you find me?” Alma manager to question after swallowing to moisten her suddenly dry throat.

”How did I find you? Well, after that whole fiasco at Blackpool, it was easy. You and your children left quite the impression,” Jack smirked.

”What are you doing here?” Miss Peregrine whispered, heart pounding in her chest. She could feel her hands trembling and so she clenched them in order to hide any form of weakness.

“Well, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to see my little sister now, could I?”  
  
Jack stalked closer towards her, something familiar and dangerous glinting in his eyes that had Alma   
stepping back on instinct. 

”You need to leave, Caul,” Alma told him in an attempt to take back the control.

“And why would I do that, dear sister?” Jack asked, amused.   
  
“You’re not welcome here,” Alma said.

“What, your own brother?” Jack replied with mock hurt.

Alma forced herself to hold her tongue, knowing saying that he wasn’t a brother to her would only infuriate him.

A quiet creak caught her attention and she turned her head slightly, catching sight of the living room door slightly ajar. A pair of eyes met her own.

Her moment of distraction must have been enough for Jack to notice because he turned his head and looked towards the door where she was focusing.

He chucked and turned his full body in the direction of the door. 

“Oh, and who’s this?” He smirked and began to head for the door but Miss Peregrine reached out and grabbed his wrist to prevent him from meeting it.

”Don’t,” she warned with a surge of bravery.

Jack snatched his wrist out of her grip and continued towards the door with no regard for her warning. 

“Caul,” Miss Peregrine snapped, but it was too late as he’d taken hold of the door handle and flung the living room door wide open to reveal her children gathered around the door.

“What do we have here?” Jack smirked.

Undeterred by him, Enoch stepped forward and met his eyes.

”Who are you?” He asked Jack.

Jack laughed out loud and turned with amusement to face Alma again.

”They don’t know?” He questioned.

”Know what?” Enoch asked.

”Nothing,” she told Enoch, “You need to leave,” she addressed her brother. 

“Make me,” Caul grinned challengingly.

”Who is he, Miss?” Emma interrupted.

”I’m her brother,” Jack revealed before Alma could open her mouth.

Miss Peregrine sighed at the disbelief on her children’s face. She’d never brought Jack up before, nor Myron, her other brother. She hated both of her brothers because of the torment they’d both put her through when they were just just children.

Jealousy that she could form loops and they couldn’t had driven them both to hurt her in any way possible. Caul had even broken her leg at one point by pushing her down the stairs when she was thirteen. She’d had a limp for just over a year following that and any forgiveness she’d ever given her brothers had vanished into thin air.

She hated them both and she’d never wanted her wards to ever know about her cruel brothers, let alone meet them. Especially Jack, the worst out of them both.

”Her brother?” Jake questioned, then looked at the other children for clarification but they showed they were just as confused as he was.

”Why didn’t you tell us you had a brother, Miss?” Hugh asked.

“Yes, why didn’t you, sister?” Jack teased.

“I want you to leave,” Alma told Jack once again.

It was getting harder to control her shaking limbs and pounding heart, especially now that her children had been brought into it.

Jack leaned in close to her and stared her straight in the eyes. She hated how similar their eyes were. If she could change anything about herself, it would be her eyes. They were to similar to the monster’s.

”Make me,” Jack repeated himself.

”She said leave,” Enoch stepped up angrily. It was obvious he could sense something was wrong and now the others were uneasy in Jack’s presence. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be the one protecting them? Not the other way around,” Jack laughed merrily.

”I don’t care what you want, but she said leave, so leave,” Enoch growled. 

“Or what?” Jack retorted.

Enoch turned to face Olive and gave a small nod. The red head stepped forward and removed one of her gloves threateningly, then allowed a flame to flicker on her palm.

Jack hummed then turned to Alma.

”I always knew you would make a good mother, sister,” he said to her.

Then, too quick for even Alma to comprehend, Jack was behind her and he had a knife to her throat. She hadn’t even noticed him get it out or that he’d even had it to begin with, but it was sharp against her throat and she could feel him digging it in threateningly.

”Miss P!” Claire cried with fear. The Twins chittered beside her with panic and Bronwyn had to stop them from lifting their masks lest they turn her to stone as well as Jack.

”Let her go!” Enoch ordered angrily.

”Back up or I kill her,” Jack growled.

It always scared her how her brother could go from calm and nonchalant to angry and furious in a split second.

”No way, let her go or I kill you,” Enoch retorted.

”Enoch, stop,” Olive warned him as she and the others followed Jack’s order and began to back up into the living room.

”Don’t you dare hurt her, you monster,” Fiona told Jack which elicited a chuckle from the latter.

”Fiona,” Miss Peregrine warned her quietly. She would never forgive herself if anything happened to any of her children especially at the hands of her own brother.

Once the children had crossed the threshold to the living room, Caul leaned forward to Alma and asked a question.

”Where’s the basement?” He asked.

”What?” Alma replied with confusion.

”The basement. Where is it, sister?” Jack repeated. 

“Why?”

”I want your little brats to hear you scream in pain and be powerless to stop them. I want them to cover their ears to block out the cries of your torment,” Caul murmured in her ear. “Now, where is the basement?”

Alma quietly shook her head, terror enveloping her entire body. It was all she could do as her throat had gone dry again.

Jack pressed the knife harder into her throat until Alma was sure she could feel moisture building beneath it.

”Stop it, please, you’re hurting her,” Claire sniffled.

”If you don’t tell me, I’ll kill her,” Caul whispered beside her.

Alma met Claire’s eyes and knew she had to tell Jack for the sake of her children.

”Down the hall on the right,“ she muttered, not taking her eyes away from Claire’s.

”There’s a good birdie,” Jack cooed, “now, let’s get this show on the road, sister.”


	2. Discussion

Alma allowed Jack to lead her to the basement, fully aware that what would follow would be torturous, not just for herself but for her children too. Perhaps more so for them. She would let Caul do anything to her if it meant her children were safe and unharmed.

As Jack led her to the basement, she began to think of a plan. When the Barron had invaded her home last time, her only plan had been to go with him if it meant her children were safe. They’d had Jake with them at the time which meant he could guide them against the hollow. She’d had every hope that her children would survive, especially with Jake and Miss Avocet to help.

This time, there was no travelling to Blackpool. Her children were in the same house as her. One wrong move, one wrong _word_ could mean their demise. She knew Caul would make his way through each child if she didn’t obey and play his twisted game (whatever it was) until only they were left. Then he would laugh at her despair.

She had to play her cards right. Had to be careful and judge her every move thoroughly before making it. Her children’s lives were on the line and she would be damned if she allowed them to be hurt because of her.

With complete disregard and a smirk, Jack tossed Alma to the basement floor and slammed the door shut behind himself. He locked it with the key he’d stolen from the keyhole before entering, and then pulled the cord dangling from the ceiling, illuminating the room in dim light.

Alma wished she’d gotten round to replacing the bulb for her brother’s already sinister face was bathed in low light and shadows, creating a villain-like expression that made her mouth feel dry.

The basement smelled of formaldehyde and iron, with a small hint of bleach. It invaded her nostrils as she rose to her feet from the floor. 

Caul’s eyes weren’t on her, though. He was casting his eyes curiously around the basement, inspecting the various jars of organs lining the shelves on the walls.

“Organs,” he said aloud, then turned towards her, “something you want to tell me, dear sister?”

”They’re not mine,” she replied, mouth twisted.

“No? They’re in your basement, are they not?” Jack said.

Despite the clear accusation in his tone, hidden beneath his casual front, Alma didn’t respond she knew what he was getting at. The organs were for Enoch only, they were things she brought home for him from marketplaces so he could practice his peculiarity on his homunculi.

She wouldn’t tell Caul that, however. So she kept her mouth closed.

Jack took one of the jars off the shelf. The liquid inside was yellow-ish and looked to be of a slightly thicker consistency than water. The organ residing in the liquid was about the size of Caul’s hand. It was a heart.

”Hm. Not exactly fresh, but not too old either,” he noted.

Alma found a crease appearing between her brows as she watched him examine the organ. It only deepened when he unscrewed the lid and tossed it to the side with a metallic clatter as it hit the concrete floor. 

He reached inside the jar, the formaldehyde soaking his tailored jacket, and brought out the heart. He held it aloft in his hand. The liquid dripped onto the floor as he put the jar back onto the shelf.

”It merely seems curious to me, then,” he began, “that you should have so many organs in your basement when they’re not for yourself, sister.”

Alma couldn’t help but gulp. He knew. He was always too smart, why she thought he would just forget about it, she didn’t know.

”They’re almost certainly, then, for one of your pesky children,” Jack deduced, “a dead-riser, perhaps?”

Despite herself, Alma shook her head.

”No?” Jack laughed. “I think you’re lying, sister dear.”

Without warning, Jack strode towards her as fast as lightning and grabbed her by the back of her hair. She felt her hairpins dig uncomfortably into her scalp and some of her hair fall loose with the way he held her.

He brought the heart up to her face for her to see and frowned at her disapprovingly.

”You know I hate it when you lie, Alma,” he said.

Alma wrinkled her nose at the smell of formaldehyde and the way in which Caul was squeezing the heart. She was almost sure it was going to burst and she would have blood in her eye.

”Which one is it?” Jack asked quietly.

”What?” Alma whispered. Her heart was racing too fast to be healthy, her hands were trembling as they gripped the front of Jack’s blazer, and her throat was dry.

”Which one of those brats can raise the dead?” 

“Why would I tell you that?”

”Because if you don’t, I’ll kill them all and make you watch,” Jack threatened. 

“You’ll be dead before you can kill any of them,” Alma retorted shakily.

It was wishful thinking, she knew. She’d witnessed what her brother could do. After all, he was the genius behind the Immortality Project, Barron and the others mere servants in the grand scheme of things. Jack didn’t get to where he was just by asking nicely. The amount of people- peculiar and non-peculiar alike- he’d slaughtered to get to where he was now disgusted her.

She didn’t think her children stood a chance against him without a good, solid plan. Caul always had something up his sleeve.

He laughed. Loud and haughty, like he held all the secrets to the universe.

”Oh, dear sister, didn’t I tell you?”

”Tell me what?” Alma demanded.

”Barron wasn’t the only one who travelled with hollows.”

”What?” Alma whimpered. Her grip tightened on his blazer. She only wished he would put her out of her misery right then and there.

”You thought I would announce myself alone and hope you and your wards didn’t kill me when my back was turned?” Jack chuckled. “I may be the most powerful peculiar to have ever lived- or, I will be -but I’m not stupid.”

”You’re still going through with it, then?” Alma asked, desperate for answers. 

“My Project? Of course I am. You of all people should know I’m not one for giving up so easily, sister. Besides, that’s why I need you, my little bird,” Jack cooed, tapping her cheek with the organ he still clutched.

”You want me so you can become immortal,” Alma said.

”Why else would I need you? I offered you more power than you could have ever dreamt of before you left the Ymbryne Academy, but you threw it all in my face and told the Ymbryne Council of my plans,” Caul grit out.

Alma remembered. She was so young, mere weeks away from graduating as a real Ymbryne, and Jack had offered her immortality. Immortality without the need of loops, without the need to look after peculiar children. 

Young Alma had been disgusted at the plan, not only that but how he planned on achieving it. Using other Ymbrynes for experimentation, rooting through their core and discovering what allowed them to create loops, then taking it for themselves.

She had told Jack and Myron she would consider it, lied through her teeth, and then told Miss Avocet, who, in turn, alerted the Ymbryne Council.

Her brothers were gone before they arrived, but they left the vile stench of death in their wake. Alma hated them.

“I had plans,” Jack said quietly, but the weight of his words was heavy, “we were going to rule Peculiardorm together. Yourself, Myron, and me. We were going to be immortal. We were going to be so powerful.”

Alma could feel the quiet rage rolling off of him in waves.

”You played, perhaps, the biggest role in it all,” Jack grit out between clenched teeth, “we needed you, Alma!”

Alma gasped, the sound of impact reverberating throughout the room. She nursed her cheek, eyes closed tightly as her head span. She hadn’t expected his slap. Her mind was whirling and anger was brewing, tainting her usually calm façade.

When she opened her eyes to glare at him, he was stood nonchalantly as if he had merely swatted a fly out of the air. He adjusted his cufflinks and smoothed down his hair. When he saw her watching him, he chuckled.

”Oh come on, sister,” he chuckled, “nothing you haven’t experienced before, I’m sure.”

”You’re disgusting,” she told him.

”No, dearest Alma,” Caul sighed, “ _this_ is disgusting.”

Quick as a flash, Jack pushed her back until her back hit the wall and then, to Alma’s absolute shock, he pressed his lips to her own. 

Alma’s eyes widened in horror and she gave a forceful push until he had backed away, his seemingly ever-present smirk still mocking her. 

Alma stood, mouth agape, until she had gathered her bearings. At which point, she slapped him as hard as she could.

”What the _hell_ is wrong with you!” She demanded, though the question was mostly rhetorical in nature.

Jack laughed.

”I knew there was some fight still left in you, sister,” he said.

He put his palm around her throat and squeezed lightly. Alma clenched her jaw and glared back at him. 

“Now, let’s get this show on the road,” Caul breathed, “which one of those brats can raise the dead?”


End file.
